02/06/2026 – 14:23Germany’s Merz urges Israel to show restraint in Lebanon, calls on Hezbollah to disarm
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on Israel to exercise restraint in its campaign in southern Lebanon.
Merz said Germany viewed the latest escalation in the south with great concern and urged Hezbollah to lay down its arms.
02/06/2026 – 14:21Iran war disruption threatening delivery of lifesaving supplies for children, UN says
Surging global transport costs and supply chain disruptions linked to the Middle East crisis are threatening the delivery of lifesaving aid to children, the UN children’s agency has warned.
UN children’s agency UNICEF said it was increasingly relying on air freight due to shipping delays sparked by the heightened insecurity around key Gulf shipping routes.
In the first quarter alone, the agency nearly exhausted annual contributions from logistics partners that donate charter flights, as it flew supplies into Lebanon and Gaza amid delays of up to four to six weeks. That is unprecedented, UNICEF’s chief of global transport and logistics, Jean-Cedric Meeus, told reporters.
02/06/2026 – 13:32Commercial vessel hit by Revolutionary Guard strike in Iraq’s Umm Qasr port
MSC, the world’s largest shipping group, has said its Sariska V vessel was struck by two projectiles while in Iraq’s Umm Qasr port on Monday, adding that all crew members were safe and unharmed.
The company said Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) had claimed responsibility and described the incident as an unprovoked attack on a neutral commercial carrier with no affiliation to the United States or Israel.
“MSC is deeply concerned by these unprovoked attacks and the risk they create for its innocent seafarers and essential maritime trade in the region,” the group said in a statement.
02/06/2026 – 13:30Iran’s inflation hits World War II levels, deepening economic pain
Year-on-year inflation in Iran reached a level in May unseen since World War II, underlining the economic pain average Iranians face as the Islamic Republic worries about the war with Israel and the United States restarting.
Iran’s Central Bank said the consumer price index, which measures a basket of goods and services, reached 77.2 percent in May compared to the year before. It added the rate is 8.5 percent higher than in April. Inflation in daily and general needs – like medicine, taxi fares, tobacco and communication fees – rose 113.8 percent from the year before.
Iran only saw worse inflation in 1942 during World War II, sparked by the British and Soviets invading the country and taking over its railway, disrupting food supplies. The lack of food, worsened by a poor harvest, sparked hyperinflation and a famine. Hunger and a typhus outbreak killed many.
02/06/2026 – 13:16Trump says Iran talks moving fast despite threat to widen war
US President Donald Trump said Monday that talks with Iran were moving at a “rapid pace”, even as Tehran threatened to widen the war by keeping the Strait of Hormuz blocked and activating other pressure points around the region.
FRANCE 24’s international affairs editor Philip Turle gives his analysis from Paris.
02/06/2026 – 13:14Israel arms exports hit another all-time high
Israeli arms exports have reached an all-time high for the fifth consecutive year, hitting more than $19 billion in 2025 driven by missile, rocket and air defence systems, the defence ministry announced Tuesday.
Missile, rocket and air defence systems were the lead exports and accounted for 29 percent of deals, it said, adding that a “notable surge was recorded in observation and optronics systems”.
European countries purchased 36 percent of exports, while Asia and the Pacific Region bought 32 percent, and the Middle East and North Africa 15 percent.
02/06/2026 – 13:09Lebanon university postpones exams after Israeli strike kills students
Lebanon’s public university said it was postponing some examinations after two students and their father were killed while returning to south Lebanon after sitting exams a day earlier.
The Lebanese University in a statement on X mourned the loss of the two students “in an Israeli attack targeting civilians on the Khardali road”.
The institution, “which has lost a large number of its students, lecturers and employees during the Israeli aggression, affirms that the safety of the university community remains the highest priority”.
It said it would postpone exams on its main campus in Beirut’s southern suburbs, and in the southern city of Sidon, until next week “in the face of the current developments”.
02/06/2026 – 13:07Israel says US backs striking Beirut suburbs if Hezbollah attacks north
Israel’s defence minister said Tuesday Washington had given its backing to potential Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern Dahiyeh suburb, a Hezbollah bastion, if the Iran-backed group attacked northern Israeli communities.
“The Prime Minister and I led a coordinated move together with the IDF to establish a new equation… If Israeli towns continue to be attacked, we will evacuate and strike the Shiite Dahiyeh quarter in Beirut, Hezbollah’s stronghold,” Israel Katz said at a conference, a defence ministry statement said.
“The United States endorsed this principle and conveyed it to the Lebanese government and all relevant actors … either the fire on Israeli communities stops, or – if fire continues – we will strike in Dahiyeh. This equation will be upheld.”
02/06/2026 – 11:52 Israel, Hezbollah exchange fire despite Trump announcement
FRANCE 24’s Noga Tarnopolsky reports from Jerusalem on the continued clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.
02/06/2026 – 11:40Israel tells residents of Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh city to leave their homes
The Israeli military on Tuesday called on residents of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh to leave their homes ahead of planned strikes in the area.
“In light of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation’s violation of the ceasefire agreement, the IDF is compelled to act against it with force,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Colonel Avichay Adraee, posted on X.”For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north of the Zahrani River.”
02/06/2026 – 11:18Lebanese civil defence agency says Israeli strike on country’s south late Monday killed six people
Lebanon’s civil defence agency said that six people had been killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Lebanon village of Marwaniyeh the previous evening.
In a statement on Facebook, the agency said rescue operations had been ongoing since late Monday at the site of “a residential building that was targeted” in Marwaniyeh, near the coastal city of Sidon, adding that “these operations resulted in the removal of six bodies and the rescue of three wounded people”.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency had earlier reported an Israeli strike on the village, which came more than 12 hours after Israel’s army called on residents to leave their homes ahead of Israeli strikes.
02/06/2026 – 11:14Lebanon says man, son, daughter killed in Israeli strike
Lebanese official media said Tuesday an Israeli strike a day earlier killed a man, his son and daughter in the country’s south, while a local priest told AFP they returning from doing university exams.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said the man, a dentist from the border village of Qlayaa, “was killed with his son and daughter when a enemy drone targeted his car on the Nabatieh-Khardali road”.
Father Antonios Farah, a priest for the Qlayaa parish where some people are still holding out despite sweeping Israeli evacuation orders to leave, told AFP that the man had been returning home with his son and daughter, both in their early 20s, after they did university exams.
“We don’t understand why this happened,” he said, adding that a bible and prayer book were found in the heavily damaged car.
Lebanon’s health ministry said that Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,433 people and wounded 10,395 others since the latest war with Hezbollah erupted on March 2.
02/06/2026 – 11:07Lebanon says man, son, daughter killed in Israeli strike
Lebanese official media said Tuesday an Israeli strike a day earlier killed a man, his son and daughter in the country’s south. A local priest said they had been returning from taking university exams.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA) said the man, a dentist from the border village of Qlayaa, “was killed with his son and daughter when an enemy drone targeted his car on the Nabatieh-Khardali road”.
Father Antonios Farah, a priest for the Qlayaa parish where some people are still holding out despite sweeping Israeli calls for them to leave their homes, said the man had been returning home with his son and daughter, both in their early 20s, after they did university exams.
The NNA reported Israeli airstrikes on dozens of south Lebanon locations on Monday.
Lebanon’s health ministry said that Israeli attacks have killed at least 3,433 people and wounded 10,395 others since the latest war with Hezbollah erupted on March 2.
02/06/2026 – 10:01Senior Iranian officer says renewed war with US ‘inevitable’, state TV reports
A senior Iranian military officer has said that a resumption of hostilities with the United States was inevitable, as negotiations between Tehran and Washington appeared to stall.
“The United States demands our total surrender, and the Iranian nation will never surrender,” said Mohammad Jafar Assadi, deputy head of Iran’s central military command, Khatam al-Anbiya. “Without surrender, war is inevitable.”
02/06/2026 – 08:39Iran has not yet sent its response to US in talks, Mehr says
Iran has not yet responded to a proposed final agreement with the United States aimed at ending the conflict between the two countries, and discussions on the final text are continuing in Tehran, a source close to the Iranian negotiating team told Mehr News on Tuesday.
The source said Iran was reviewing the proposal cautiously because of what it sees as a history of US non-compliance and longstanding mistrust.
“Based on previous experiences, Iran is seeking tangible and real benefits,” the source said.
02/06/2026 – 08:36’Nothing can justify’ prolonged Israeli occupation in Lebanon, says French FM
France’s foreign minister has said that nothing could justify Israeli troops remaining deep inside Lebanon, after Israel and Hezbollah clashed overnight despite a US announcement that both sides had agreed to halt fighting.
“Nothing can justify the continuation of military operations and Israel’s prolonged occupation deep inside Lebanese territory,” Jean-Noël Barrot told France TV.
02/06/2026 – 08:17Clashes with Israel continue in southern Lebanon despite Trump promise of de-escalation
Israel and Hezbollah clashed overnight despite US President Donald Trump’s announcement that both sides had agreed to halt fighting ahead of US-hosted talks between Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday.
The overnight clashes came after Lebanon said Iran-backed Hezbollah had accepted a US proposal for a “mutual cessation of attacks” after Trump said he persuaded the warring sides to de-escalate.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to cast doubt on any truce, and a report by US news outlet Axios on Monday said Trump called him “fucking crazy” and accused him of putting Iran peace talks at risk.
FRANCE 24’s Renée Davis reports from Beirut.
02/06/2026 – 08:14″You’re f*cking crazy”: Trump clashes with Netanyahu over Israel’s Lebanon offensive, US media reports
US President Donald Trump laid in to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an expletive-filled phone call to discuss US fears that Israel’s continued offensive in Lebanon and is jeopardising hopes of a peace deal with Iran, media outlet Axios reported.
FRANCE 24’s correspondent Fraser Jackson gives the details from Washington.
02/06/2026 – 07:38Israel, Lebanon set for new round of talks in Washington
A new round of talks between representatives from Lebanon and Israel is due to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday issued a statement reiterating Beirut’s commitment to negotiations, saying they are “safer than war”.